How Much Screentime Is Okay for Young Kids?

The average amount of screen time kids are getting is troubling. Here are a couple handouts with the American Pediatric Associations recommendations and warning signs of too much screen time:
https://www.pricelessparenting.com/documents/healthy-tech...
https://www.pricelessparenting.com/documents/kids%20scree...

I realize the study is preliminary, but there are some very alarming things. Among them are the facts that the kids would not give electronics with certain features to the researcher, and that the kids were unable to duplicate certain on line skills in real life. I think a lot of parents comfort themselves (delude themselves?) with the philosophy that "It's an educational game." That lead to the next step: Define "educational." Is it educational because the manufacturer says so? Because it has numbers or colors?

My son is in his late 20s so we missed a lot of this, but he certainly complained that he always lost at video games when he went to friends' houses. In college, he and his roommate bought an XBox, and I was fine with that (not that I had a vote in the decision!). He sold is a few years back - he got bored. But we still had to turn off the TV and watch the amount of time spent on videos, so the idea was the same.

We were really big on hands-on toys - blocks and Legos and marble towers and puzzles and so on. We gave our son a big table in the basement where stuff didn't have to be cleaned up, and he built elaborate set-ups with cars and trains and Legos and so on, combining totally different items in new ways. There was a ton of outdoor play - unstructured, free play ("Find a kid or two in the neighborhood and do something") and, again, they invented games using household objects or stuff they found in nature. We took walks, usually with a bucket for collecting treasures.

So I do think screen time is like dessert, as mentioned below. My big concern is anything that is too isolating from others – if they’re interacting with a game vs. a kid or family member, if they’re texting friends rather than talking to them, it’s limiting. My other concerns, whether it’s video games or overscheduled kids in organized sports or dance or whatever, is the lack of creative play and the idea that kids cannot entertain themselves or be comfortable in their own skin. I think it’s okay for kids to be bored, to have to create activity for themselves, to lie in the grass and contemplate the clouds, and to not have parents or others solve all their problems. Critical thinking comes from having to evaluate a situation and figure their own way out of it. So I think screen time is a part of this much bigger issue.

I'm not surprised that too much screen time is bad for developing brains. But the study was based on 7+ hours of screen time per day? Do kids these days even have that kind of free time after school?

On the weekdays, I let my kids watch between afterschool and before dinner for no more than an hour, usually somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour. Never after dinner (screen time even an hour before bedtime is disturbs their sleep). And on the weekends, I let them watch for up to an hour, but not in one sitting, usually 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon.

There is so much out there about this.
Screentime - much like dessert - is a sometimes thing.
It's ok in moderation.
How much will depend on so many factors.

Kids benefit more from interaction with caring adults.
Heck - so do older children and adults for that matter.
How ever did parents raise children for thousands of years before screens existed?

TV, computer, video games, doesn't matter. As long they get outside, play with friends, go to school, do homework/reading, spend time with family, etc. then I didn't set any limits. Some days they were on for hours and some days not at all. The only exception was mornings before school I made sure they were ALL READY to go before the TV came on.
(Also I didn't read the article because I won't click on any outside links but with three mostly grown well adjusted kids I know what worked for us.)
Just curious, do YOU only watch TV, go on your phone or use your computer for anything besides work for only one to two hours a week?

I didn't have a set limit. I just made sure she had outside time, and other play time in addition to screen time.

My kids when very small didn't have them (iPads, etc.) - when they were around preschool we had some computer games like PBS kids that the spent maybe 15 minutes on.

Back then, it was TV time that was the concern.

My kids use their devices (iPads and phones) primarily for watching youtube or Netflix. So I consider it kind of the same. Mine are elementary up to high school.

It's kind of the same as when I was a kid and mom booted us off and told us to go find something to do.

We are not an over-scheduled family and my kids are introverts. Some downtime is natural for them. So long as they've been active, have a social life, have interests/pursuits, and school work is done and chores ... I am ok within moderation.

I don't time it. Every day is different around here. One day will be more and then the next day there may be very little if they are busy with friends or sports, etc.

We do have kiddos who come here who unfortunately, don't know how to play without them. My kids still prefer to socialize without devices - so I count my blessings. They're not into social media.

I saw that interview on 60 minutes. I think the main concern I have is that kids are so distracted these days, and depression/anxiety is increasing amongst teens.

I think it's interesting but there is not enough data to draw any conclusions yet. As the scientist herself says, it's a long term study.

I also think there is a lot of overblown hype in this story. The preliminary data she talks about refers to kids spending 7+ hours per day on screens. I wonder how they are separating out confounding factors (eg, is the problem too much screen time or lack of other types of activities or even lack of sleep) - this would need to be a very carefully controlled study to separate out this kind of stuff if this is actually going to be good science. I'm also not sure it applies to most kids. I mention this because 7 hours is a LOT - for my kids, that would mean that they would be on screens from the moment they came home from school until bedtime, without stopping for dinner, homework, or anything else, every day. Certainly a kid couldn't be involved in any sport or other activity or club, get enough sleep at night, and still clock in this much daily time on a screen.

As for my own standard - it's no screens between breakfast and dinner (and then only if all homework is done). By the time we have dinner - which happens after sports practices for the day - that usually leaves about an hour per day for video games. Like you, I make exceptions for out of the ordinary stuff like the occasional multi-hour car ride or a single-digit temperature day on the weekend.

Bottom line - I think it's like everything else in life - extremes are not good and moderation and balance are the keys to being healthy.

ETA: I love mamazita's comment pointing back at us, as parents. If we want our kids spending less time on screens, we should make sure that we are modeling that.

wow!

i'm glad this isn't a landmine i have to navigate. mine had the videogame struggle, but smartphones and tablets weren't around when they were growing up.

this is a serious issue.

your parameters sound sensible. (unless you're saying going out to dinner= screen time.)

khairete
S.

"more than 7 hours a day."

Why even bother reporting this. 7 hours. How many kids spend more than 7 hours a day on devices? There is no story here. Truly, they are pulling at straws and coming up short, time and time again.

Once upon a time books were as scary as screens. Now books are seen as safe.

I also hope that all of you adults that limit your kids limit yourselves to the same amount of device time. I know so many adults complain, complain and complain and say how they rarely let their kids even watch a movie, yet they are on their phone 4 hours a day and watch tons of TV.

I honestly do not get it.

We do about 3-5 hours a day. We homeschool. Earlier this week we had friends over. Three other kids brought laptops. My daughter wrote a survey about characters, and the kidss then spent 4 hours playing a game and beating a boss. They then decided it was time to go outside and skate on ice. They engaged in serious team building, problem solving, and negotiating skills. It was truly amazing to watch.

I do about 2 hours a day on devices, 80 minutes being email.

We've set the parental control time limit to maximum an hour a day on schooldays and 3 hours a day on weekends, I had read it's the limit researchers suggest for tweens and teens. For younger kids it should be even less. The problem is not only about the standard kids activities they aren't doing but also about physical and mental development issue (eyes, posture, mood,....).